[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 171 (Thursday, September 3, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53266-53272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21834]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 51

[Docket Nos. PRM-51-29; NRC-2012-0215]


Rescinding Spent Fuel Pool Exclusion Regulations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; denial.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM), PRM-51-29, submitted by the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts (the Commonwealth or the petitioner). The petitioner 
requested that, in light of information gained from the Fukushima Dai-
ichi accident, the NRC rescind its regulations that make a generic 
determination that spent fuel pool storage does not have a significant 
environmental impact for nuclear power plant license renewal actions. 
The NRC is denying the petition because the NRC finds no basis to 
consider a rulemaking to revise such regulations.

DATES: The docket for the petition for rulemaking, PRM-51-29, is closed 
on September 3, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0215 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of 
the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0215. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in Section IV, Availability of Documents.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenny Tobin, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-2328; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. The Petition
II. Reasons for Denial
III. Conclusion
IV. Availability of Documents

I. The Petition

    On June 2, 2011, before the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 
(ASLB), the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of the Attorney 
General, Environmental Protection Division, requested a waiver of the 
NRC's generic determination regarding spent fuel pool (SFP) storage 
impacts in the Pilgrim nuclear power plant (NPP) license renewal 
proceeding. The petitioner also requested that, if the ASLB rejected 
the Commonwealth's waiver, then the NRC should consider the waiver 
request to be a PRM. Specifically, the petitioner requested that the 
NRC's regulations in Sec.  51.71(d) \1\ of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and table B-1 \2\ in appendix B to subpart 
A of 10 CFR part 51 be revised because these regulations, according to 
the petitioner, incorrectly

[[Page 53267]]

``generically classify the environmental impacts of high-density pool 
storage of spent fuel as insignificant and thereby permit their 
exclusion from consideration in environmental impact statements (EISs) 
for renewal of nuclear power plant operating licenses.''
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    \1\ 10 CFR 51.71 is entitled, ``Draft environmental impact 
statement- contents''; Sec.  51.71(d) describes the analysis 
required to be included in the draft EIS. For license renewal, the 
draft supplemental EIS (1) relies on supporting information in 
NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement [GEIS] for 
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' for generic issues and (2) 
provides an analysis for the site-specific issues.
    \2\ Table B-1 is entitled, ``Summary of Findings on NEPA Issues 
for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants,'' and is the 
codification of the GEIS. In table B-1, generic issues are 
designated as ``Category 1'' issues and site-specific issues are 
designated as ``Category 2'' issues.
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    The petitioner asserted that the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident 
provides ``new and significant'' information that would affect the 
NRC's impact analysis for SFPs in license renewal. The petitioner 
contends that this event provides the justification for its request 
that the NRC revise 10 CFR 51.71(d) and table B-1 in appendix B to 
subpart A of 10 CFR part 51. The petitioner made the following three 
claims:
    1. The impacts from the onsite storage of spent fuel are 
understated in NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
[GEIS] for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' because the Fukushima 
Dai-ichi event indicates that the probability-weighted consequences of 
a spent fuel pool accident are greater than what was considered in the 
GEIS.
    2. The impacts from the onsite storage of spent fuel are 
understated in the license renewal GEIS analysis because the mitigation 
measures implemented at NPPs after the September 11, 2001 (9/11), 
terrorist attacks will not effectively mitigate the impacts of SFP 
accidents, given the new information gained from the Fukushima accident 
along with the NRC's policy of imposing secrecy on the mitigation 
measures, and the mitigation measures were improperly relied upon in 
the denial of PRM-51-10.\3\
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    \3\ The request presented in the petition is essentially 
identical to the request presented in another PRM submitted by the 
Commonwealth on August 25, 2006, PRM-51-10 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML081890124) (although the basis for the request in each case is 
unique). The State of California also submitted a petition, PRM-51-
12, in 2007 that was nearly identical to PRM-51-10. The NRC denied 
PRM-51-10 and PRM-51-12 on August 8, 2008 (73 FR 46204). The NRC's 
denials of these two petitions were upheld. New York v. U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, 589 F.3d 551 (2nd Cir. 2009). The arguments 
presented in support of PRM-51-10 are similar to those presented in 
support of this petition.
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    3. The license renewal GEIS impact analysis must address spent fuel 
storage impacts on a site-specific, rather than generic basis.
    On December 13, 2011, the ASLB denied the Commonwealth's waiver 
petition (LBP-11-35). On March 8, 2012, in Memorandum and Order CLI-12-
06, the Commission affirmed the ASLB's denial of the waiver request and 
granted the Commonwealth's alternative request that its waiver request 
be treated as a PRM; the petition was referred to the NRC staff. The 
NRC assigned the petition Docket No. PRM-51-29. The NRC published a 
notice of receipt of the petition in the Federal Register (FR) on 
December 19, 2012 (77 FR 75065), and supplemented the notice on 
December 31, 2012 (77 FR 76952). The NRC did not request public comment 
on the petition because sufficient information was available for the 
NRC staff to form a technical opinion regarding the merits of the 
petition, which is similar to the Commonwealth's previous petition 
(PRM-51-10).
    For the purposes of this review, the issues that the petitioner 
raised about the Pilgrim NPP licensing proceeding were considered 
generically, to the extent practicable. Other statements concerning the 
Pilgrim NPP license renewal proceeding, including those concerns 
related to the risk of severe reactor accidents, are beyond the scope 
of this PRM.

II. Reasons for Denial

    The NRC complies with Section 102(2) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) in its consideration of NPP license renewal 
applications through the implementation of its environmental protection 
regulations in 10 CFR part 51. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.95(c), the 
NRC relies upon its environmental impact statement, NUREG-1437, 
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement [GEIS] for License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants,'' as the basis for environmental reviews of NPP license 
renewal actions. The NRC published the GEIS in May 1996 (1996 GEIS) and 
then revised and updated it in June 2013 (2013 GEIS).\4\ The GEIS 
reflects lessons learned and knowledge gained during previous license 
renewal environmental reviews and describes the potential environmental 
impacts of renewing the operating license of a NPP for up to an 
additional 20 years. The findings of the GEIS have been codified into 
table B-1, ``Summary of Findings on NEPA Issues for License Renewal of 
Nuclear Power Plants,'' in appendix B to subpart A of 10 CFR part 
51.\5\
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    \4\ The NRC's regulations in 10 CFR 51.95(c) require, for the 
consideration of potential environmental impacts of renewing a NPP's 
operating license under 10 CFR part 54, that the NRC prepare an 
environmental impact statement, which is a supplement to the 2013 
GEIS. At the time the petition was filed in 2011, 10 CFR 51.95(c) 
referred to the initial 1996 GEIS. The NRC published a notice of 
issuance for the updated 2013 GEIS on June 20, 2013 (78 FR 37325).
    \5\ See Baltimore Gas and Elec. Co. v. NRDC, 462 U.S. 87, 100-
01, 103 S. Ct. 2246 (1983) (upholds use of generic environmental 
analyses) and Massachusetts v. NRC, 708 F.3d 63, 68 (1st Cir. 2013) 
(``the Supreme Court has held that the NRC is permitted to make 
generic determinations to meet its NEPA obligations'').
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    The NRC classifies the license renewal issues described in the GEIS 
as either generic or site-specific. Generic issues (i.e., environmental 
impacts common to all nuclear power plants) are addressed in the GEIS. 
Site-specific issues are addressed initially by the license renewal 
applicant (i.e., a nuclear power plant licensee seeking a renewal of 
its operating license under the NRC's license renewal regulations in 10 
CFR part 54) in its environmental report, which is required by 10 CFR 
51.45, and then by the NRC in a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS) prepared for each license renewal application. The 
plant-specific SEIS and the GEIS, together, constitute the NRC's NEPA 
analysis for any given NPP license renewal action. In table B-1, the 
``Onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel'' issue has been classified as a 
Category 1, or generic, issue with an impact level finding of 
``small.'' The ``Onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel'' finding states 
``[t]he expected increase in the volume of spent fuel from an 
additional 20 years of operation can be safely accommodated onsite 
during the license renewal term with small environmental effects 
through dry or pool storage at all plants.'' The designation of an 
issue as a Category 1 (generic resolution) issue in the GEIS does not 
mean that potential impacts cannot be considered in a license renewal 
SEIS. If there are changes in plant operating parameters or new and 
significant information pertinent to an evaluation of impacts, these 
are considered during preparation of plant-specific supplements to the 
NRC's license renewal GEIS.
    Under 10 CFR part 51, neither the applicant's environmental report 
nor the NRC's SEIS is required to address issues previously resolved 
generically, as set forth in the GEIS and table B-1, absent new and 
significant information. Section 51.92(a)(2) requires a supplement to 
an EIS if there is new and significant information relevant to 
environmental concerns and bearing on the license renewal or its 
impacts. The NRC standard for the evaluation of ``new and significant'' 
information is that the information must present ``a seriously 
different picture of the environmental impact of the proposed project 
from what was previously envisioned.'' \6\ Therefore, to be

[[Page 53268]]

``significant,'' any information must lead to a conclusion seriously 
different than that currently set forth in the GEIS.\7\
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    \6\ Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri (Callaway 
Plant, Unit 2), et al, CLI-11-05, 74 NRC 141, 167-68 (2011) quoting 
Hydro Resources, Inc., CLI-99-22, 50 NRC 3, 14 (1999) (alteration in 
the original) (supporting citations omitted) (``To merit this 
additional review, information must be both `new' and `significant,' 
and it must bear on the proposed action or its impacts. As we have 
explained, `[t]he new information must present a seriously different 
picture of the environmental impact of the proposed project from 
what was previously envisioned'.''); see also Sierra Club v. 
Froehlke, 816 F.2d 205, 210 (5th Cir. 1987) (alteration added) 
(supporting citations omitted) (``In making its determination 
whether to supplement an existing EIS because of new information, 
the [United States Army, Corps of Engineers] should consider `the 
extent to which the new information presents a picture of the likely 
environmental consequences associated with the proposed action not 
envisioned by the original EIS'.''); Wisconsin v. Weinberger, 745 
F.2d 412, 418 (7th Cir.1984) (supplementation required where new 
information ``provides a seriously different picture of the 
environmental landscape.'').
    \7\ See Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, Preparation of 
Supplemental Environmental Reports for Applications to Renew Nuclear 
Power Plant Operating Licenses, Chapter 5 (September 2000), and 
Revision 1 published June 20, 2013 (78 FR 37324).
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    The petitioner claimed that the Fukushima nuclear accident, 
including possible damage to the SFP, provides new and significant 
information that requires the NRC to reconsider its impact findings in 
the license renewal GEIS. With respect to the March 2011 Fukushima 
accident, a Japanese government report, issued in June 2011, found that 
the Fukushima Dai-ichi, Unit 4 spent fuel pool, the one believed to 
have sustained the most serious damage, actually remained ``nearly 
undamaged.'' \8\ The report noted that visual inspections found no 
water leaks or serious damage to the Unit 4 spent fuel pool. 
Additionally, on April 25, 2014, the NRC issued a report entitled, 
``NRC Overview of the Structural Integrity of the Spent Fuel Pool at 
Fukushima Dai-ichi, Unit 4.'' The results indicated that the structural 
integrity of the Unit 4 spent fuel pool was sound.
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    \8\ See ``Report of Japanese Government to the IAEA Ministerial 
Conference on Nuclear Safety-The Accident at TEPCO's Fukushima 
Nuclear Power Stations,'' IV-91. English version available at http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/kan/topics/201106/iaea_houkokusho_e.html, 
last visited on July 15, 2015.
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    With respect to the Fukushima event, the Commission has taken 
action to mitigate beyond design basis external events, including 
imposing new requirements to develop mitigating strategies for beyond 
design basis external events, to install hardened severe accident 
capable vents for boiling water reactors with Mark I and II 
containments, to install reliable SFP water level instrumentation, to 
re-evaluate seismic and flooding hazards, and to enhance emergency 
preparedness capabilities.\9\
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    \9\ Order EA-12-051, ``NRC Order on Spent Fuel Pool 
Instrumentation,'' dated March 12, 2012; Order EA-12-049, ``NRC 
Order on Mitigating Strategies,'' dated March 12, 2012; Order EA-13-
109, ``NRC Order on Severe Accident Capable Hardened Vents,'' dated 
June 6, 2013; 10 CFR 50.54(f) letters were issued on March 12, 2012, 
to NPP licensees for seismic/flooding re-evaluations and assessing 
emergency response capabilities.
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    The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP in Japan led to 
additional questions about the safe storage of spent fuel and whether 
the NRC should require the expedited transfer of spent fuel from spent 
fuel pools to dry cask storage at nuclear power plants in the United 
States. This issue was identified by the NRC staff subsequent to the 
``Near-Term Task Force [NTTF] Review of Insights from the Fukushima 
Dai-ichi Accident'' report. At the time this issue was identified, the 
NRC staff recognized that further study was needed to determine if 
regulatory action was warranted. On October 9, 2013, the NRC released a 
report, NUREG-2161, ``Consequence Study of a Beyond-Design-Basis 
Earthquake Affecting the Spent Fuel Pool for a U.S. Mark I Boiling 
Water Reactor'' (the ``Spent Fuel Pool Study''). Additionally, the NRC 
conducted a regulatory analysis in COMSECY-13-0030, ``Staff Evaluation 
and Recommendation for Japan Lessons Learned Tier 3 Issue on Expedited 
Transfer of Spent Fuel,'' dated November 12, 2013. This study and the 
regulatory analysis concluded that SFPs are very robust structures with 
large safety margins, and that regulatory actions to reduce the amount 
of fuel in the spent fuel pool were not warranted. The Commission 
subsequently concluded in SRM-COMSECY-13-0030, issued on May 23, 2014, 
that further regulatory action need not be pursued in light of the low 
risk of accident for SFP storage.
    As will be discussed in more detail in response to Issues 1 and 2, 
the event at Fukushima Dai-ichi does not provide any new and 
significant information that would have materially altered the 
conclusions in the GEIS, or in its underlying assumptions.\10\
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    \10\ While the ASLB and Commission were principally concerned 
with the petitioner's claims regarding reactor accidents, not SFP 
accidents (both were held to be out of scope of the Pilgrim NPP 
license renewal process), the condition of the SFP at Fukushima Dai-
ichi, Unit 4, did not support the petitioner's position that impacts 
from the earthquake constituted new and significant information. In 
LBP-11-35, the ASLB observed that the event at Fukushima did not 
demonstrate new and significant information in the Pilgrim NPP 
license renewal proceeding.
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    In the petition, the Commonwealth raises three principal arguments; 
each is summarized and evaluated in the subsequent discussion.

Issue 1: The Petitioner Asserts That the Impacts From the Onsite 
Storage of Spent Fuel Are Understated in the License Renewal GEIS 
Analysis Because the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Event Indicates That the 
Probability-Weighted Consequences of a Spent Fuel Pool Accident Are 
Greater Than What Was Considered in the GEIS

    The petitioner argued that the Fukushima event provided new and 
significant information challenging the generic conclusions in the 
license renewal GEIS. Specifically, the petitioner claimed that ``the 
Fukushima accident shows . . . there is a substantial conditional 
probability of a pool fire during or following a reactor accident'' and 
that ``[t]his relationship between a pool fire and a core melt accident 
is not addressed in the License Renewal GEIS'' or the denial of PRM 51-
10 (73 FR 46204; August 8, 2008).\11\ Further, the petitioner 
referenced a report by Dr. Gordon Thompson, ``New and Significant 
Information from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident in the Context of 
Future Operation of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant'' (the ``Thompson 
Report''), to support its argument that the GEIS understates the 
probability and impacts of an SFP accident.
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    \11\ PRM at 27.
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NRC Response to Issue 1
    The evaluation of the environmental impacts of the onsite storage 
of spent nuclear fuel during the license renewal term, including 
potential spent fuel pool accidents, was documented in the 1996 GEIS 
and reaffirmed in the 2013 GEIS. Based on this evaluation, the ``Onsite 
storage of spent nuclear fuel'' NEPA issue in table B-1 has been 
classified as a Category 1 issue, or as a generic issue, with a 
probability-weighted impact level finding of ``small.'' \12\
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    \12\ For most table B-1 NEPA issues, the NRC determined whether 
the impacts of license renewal would have a small, moderate, or 
large environmental impact. The statements of consideration for the 
June 20, 2013, rulemaking note that ``[a] small impact means that 
the environmental effects are not detectable, or are so minor that 
they would neither destabilize nor noticeably alter any important 
attribute of the resource. A moderate impact means that the 
environmental effects are sufficient to alter noticeably, but not 
destabilize, important attributes of the resource. A large impact 
means that the environmental effects would be clearly noticeable and 
would be sufficient to destabilize important attributes of the 
resource'' (78 FR 37285).
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    First, the petitioners' assertion that the Fukushima event revealed 
a previously unconsidered aspect of spent fuel storage is incorrect. In 
response to PRM-51-10, the Commission rejected a similar argument 
regarding the probability ``that a severe accident at the

[[Page 53269]]

adjacent reactor would result in a SFP zirconium fire.'' \13\ The 
Commission noted that a series of unlikely events must occur for a 
severe reactor accident to lead to a spent fuel pool fire, including 
the accident itself, ``[c]ontainment failure or bypass,'' ``[l]oss of 
SFP cooling,'' ``[e]xtreme radiation levels precluding personnel 
access,'' ``[i]nability to restart cooling or makeup systems due to 
extreme radiation doses,'' ``[l]oss of most or all pool water through 
evaporation,'' and ``[i]nitiation of a zirconium fire in the SFP.'' 
\14\ As a result, the Commission concluded that ``the probability of a 
SFP zirconium fire due to a severe reactor accident and subsequent 
containment failure would be well below the Petitioners' 2E-5 per year 
estimate.'' \15\ The agency cited the denial of the PRM in the 2013 
update to the GEIS.\16\ Therefore, the Commission has previously 
considered the probability of a severe reactor accident causing a spent 
fuel pool fire and found it to be low. Petitioners have not 
demonstrated how information regarding the Fukushima accident provides 
a seriously different picture of this issue.
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    \13\ 73 FR at 46210.
    \14\ Id.
    \15\ Id.
    \16\ 2013 GEIS at E-38.
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    Moreover, the NRC has completed several studies of SFP safety, 
including NUREG-1353, ``Regulatory Analysis for the Resolution of 
Generic Issue 82, `Beyond Design Basis Accidents in Spent Fuel 
Pools';'' NUREG-1738, ``Technical Study of Spent Fuel Pool Accident 
Risk at Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants;'' and NUREG-2161, 
``Consequence Study of a Beyond-Design-Basis Earthquake Affecting the 
Spent Fuel Pool for a U.S. Mark I Boiling-Water Reactor.'' These 
studies have all concluded that SFPs continue to provide adequate 
protection of public health and safety and are consistent with the 
findings in the 2013 GEIS that onsite storage of spent fuel during the 
license renewal term would have a small impact on the environment.
    On September 19, 2014, the Commission published the ``continued 
storage'' final rule (formerly known as the ``waste confidence rule,'' 
79 FR 56238) and its associated generic environmental impact statement 
(NUREG-2157, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued 
Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel''), amending 10 CFR 51.23 to revise the 
generic determination on the environmental impacts of continued storage 
of spent nuclear fuel beyond the licensed life for operation of a 
reactor. The final rule also makes conforming changes to the ``Onsite 
storage of spent nuclear fuel'' issue finding under the ``Waste 
Management'' section in table B-1 in appendix B to subpart A of 10 CFR 
part 51. The final rule revises the finding to address both the impacts 
of onsite storage during the license renewal term and adds generic 
determinations of the environmental impacts of continued storage of 
spent nuclear fuel beyond a reactor's licensed life (i.e., those 
impacts that could occur as a result of the storage of spent nuclear 
fuel at at-reactor or away-from-reactor sites after a reactor has 
permanently shut down and until a permanent repository becomes 
available). The continued storage final rule affirms that the 
environmental impacts from the onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel, 
including potential spent fuel pool accidents, are small during the 
short-term storage timeframe (i.e., 60 years of continued storage after 
permanent shut down, after which the continued storage rule assumes 
that spent fuel will be moved to dry storage). This finding is 
consistent with the finding of the license renewal GEIS. Further, the 
Commission stated in the final rule that the direct and indirect 
environmental impacts of continued storage can be analyzed generically 
and that the impact determinations are not expected to differ from 
those that would result from individual site-specific reviews for the 
continued storage period. In reaching this result, the agency responded 
to a comment that suggested that the underlying analyses did not 
appropriately account for the possibility of a severe reactor accident 
leading to a spent fuel pool accident.\17\ The NRC disagreed with this 
comment, in part, based on the conservative aspects of the agency's 
previous studies of SFP accidents.\18\
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    \17\ NUREG-2161 at D-438 to D-440.
    \18\ Id.
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    As previously discussed, a report issued by the Japanese government 
in June 2011 found that the SFP at Fukushima Dai-ichi, Unit 4, the SFP 
which presented the highest safety concern among the SFPs, remained 
nearly undamaged. This report notes that from the analysis of nuclides 
in the water extracted from the spent fuel pool, it appears that no 
extensive damage occurred to the fuel rods. No serious damage to the 
pool, including water leaks, was found from visual inspections of the 
pool's condition. Additionally, on April 25, 2014, the NRC issued a 
report entitled, ``NRC Overview of the Structural Integrity of the 
Spent Fuel Pool at Fukushima Dai-ichi, Unit 4.'' The results indicated 
that the structural integrity of the Unit 4 spent fuel pool was sound. 
Consequently, the petitioners have not shown that the Fukushima event 
constitutes new and significant information regarding the probability 
of a SFP fire. For the reasons discussed previously, the PRM does not 
provide a seriously different picture of the agency's previous analyses 
of a spent fuel pool accident, which have all concluded that despite 
the potential for large consequences of a severe spent fuel pool 
accident, the probability-weighted consequences are small due to the 
low probability of such an event.

Issue 2: The Petitioner Asserts That the Impacts From the Onsite 
Storage of Spent Fuel Are Understated in the License Renewal GEIS 
Analysis Because the Mitigation Measures Implemented After the 
September 11, 2001 (9/11), Terrorist Attacks Will Not Effectively 
Mitigate the Impacts of SFP Accidents, Given the New Information Gained 
From the Fukushima Accident Along With the NRC's Policy of Imposing 
Secrecy on the Mitigation Measures, and the Mitigation Measures Were 
Improperly Relied Upon in the Denial of PRM-51-10 (73 FR 46204)

    The petitioner claimed that information about the Fukushima 
accident undermines the following two conclusions from the Commission's 
denial of PRM-51-10 (73 FR 46204; August 8, 2008): (1) Post-9/11 
mitigation measures relied upon by the NRC would permit recovery of 
lost water from spent fuel pools, and (2) the NRC's policy of imposing 
secrecy on these mitigation measures would not impair their 
effectiveness. With regard to the first claim, the petitioner argued 
that lessons learned from the Fukushima Dai-ichi event undermine the 
Commission's reliance on post-9/11 mitigation measures that enable 
recovery of lost water from SFPs to prevent the onset of fire or other 
accidents, and that therefore, the Commission's denial of PRM-51-10 
must be reconsidered. With regard to the second claim, the petitioner 
referenced statements in a declaration provided by Dr. Gordon Thompson 
that the ``NRC's excessive secrecy degrades the licensee's capability 
to mitigate an accident.'' The petitioner asserted that by keeping the 
post-9/11 mitigation measures secret, ``the NRC also raises the risk 
that first-responders from the surrounding community, who may be called 
upon to assist in the implementation of [the mitigation measures], will 
not have sufficient understanding of them to implement them 
effectively.''

[[Page 53270]]

    The petitioner's 2006 petition (PRM-51-10) requested changes to the 
Commission's generic findings regarding the environmental impacts from 
onsite spent fuel pool storage during the license renewal period of an 
operating NPP. In its denial (73 FR 46204; August 8, 2008), the NRC 
noted that spent fuel pools are ``massive, extremely-robust structures 
designed to safely contain the spent fuel discharged from a nuclear 
reactor under a variety of normal, off-normal, and hypothetical 
accident conditions (e.g., loss of electrical power, floods, 
earthquakes, or tornadoes).''
    The petitioner asserted that the Fukushima accident demonstrates 
that the conclusions in the denial of PRM-51-10 were incorrect, and 
that in light of the new information about the Fukushima event, the NRC 
should reevaluate its impact analysis in the license renewal GEIS 
because the new information undermines the staff's position that the 
post-9/11 mitigation measures would prevent the onset of a spent fuel 
pool fire following an attack or other severe accident by permitting 
recovery of lost water.
NRC Response to Issue 2
    The petitioner's fundamental claim is that new and significant 
information from the Fukushima accident undermines the conclusions the 
Commission reached in denying PRM-51-10. As previously discussed, a 
report issued by the Japanese government in June 2011 found that the 
SFP at Fukushima Dai-ichi, Unit 4, which presented the most safety 
concern, remained nearly undamaged. This report notes that no extensive 
damage in the fuel rods appears to have occurred, based on an analysis 
of SFP water. No serious damage to the pool, including water leaks, was 
found from visual inspections of the pool's condition. Additionally, on 
April 25, 2014, the NRC issued a report entitled, ``NRC Overview of the 
Structural Integrity of the Spent Fuel Pool at Fukushima Dai-ichi, Unit 
4.'' The results indicated that the structural integrity of the Unit 4 
spent fuel pool was sound.
    As the Commission noted in its 2008 denial of PRM-51-10, and as 
demonstrated by NUREG-1738 and subsequent SFP studies: (1) Spent fuel 
pools are robust structures capable of withstanding numerous hazards, 
(2) additional mitigation strategies are available to maintain cooling 
in the event of an incident that results in a loss of cooling water, 
and (3) the risk of SFP accidents is very low. Indeed, subsequent 
studies, such as NUREG-2161, conclude that spent fuel risks at the 
reference plant are very low. The Spent Fuel Pool Study also found that 
for the specific reference plant and earthquake analyzed, SFPs are 
likely to withstand severe earthquakes without leaking.
    The NRC's regulatory approach for maintaining the safety and 
security of power reactors, and therefore SFPs, is based upon robust 
designs that are coupled with a strategic triad of preventive/
protective systems, mitigative systems, and emergency-preparedness and 
response. Licensees develop protective strategies in order to meet the 
NRC design-basis threat. As noted in the Commission's denial of PRM-51-
10 and PRM-51-12 (73 FR 46204), studies conducted by Sandia National 
Laboratories also confirmed the effectiveness of additional mitigation 
strategies to maintain spent fuel cooling in the event the pool is 
drained and its initial water inventory is reduced or lost entirely. 
Based on this more recent information, and the implementation of 
additional strategies following September 11, 2001, the probability, 
and accordingly, the risk, of a SFP zirconium fire initiation is 
expected to be less than reported in NUREG-1738 and previous studies. 
Taken as a whole, these systems, personnel, and procedures provide 
reasonable assurance that public health and safety, the environment, 
and the common defense and security will be adequately protected.
    In addition, following the Fukushima Dai-ichi event, the NRC issued 
Order EA-12-049, which requires, in part, that licensees establish 
plans and procedures associated with restoring and maintaining SFP 
cooling capability following a beyond-design-basis external event. 
These enhancements will provide additional capability for mitigating 
events that result in SFP draining, beyond those already required. 
Therefore, as discussed previously, the NRC does not simply rely on the 
post September 11, 2001, mitigating strategies to conclude the 
probability of an SFP accident is small. Rather, the NRC relies on the 
robust nature of the SFPs, the low probability of a SFP fire, and other 
mitigating measures, as well. Moreover, petitioners concede that 
measures to add water were ultimately successful at Fukushima, and 
observations to date have not revealed any cladding damage.\19\ 
Consequently, the petitioner's information in PRM-51-29 regarding the 
effectiveness of measures does not present a seriously different 
picture of this issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ COMSECY-13-0030 at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The petitioner also asserted that treating the mitigation measures 
as sensitive information impacts their effectiveness. Certain aspects 
of the enhancements are security-related and not publicly available, 
but in general include the following: (1) Significant reinforcement of 
the defense capabilities for nuclear facilities; (2) better control of 
sensitive information; (3) enhancements in emergency preparedness to 
further strengthen the NRC's nuclear facility security program; and (4) 
implementation of mitigating strategies to deal with postulated events 
potentially causing loss of large areas of the plant due to explosions 
or fires, including those that an aircraft impact might create. These 
measures are outlined in greater detail in a memorandum to the 
Commission entitled, ``Documentation of Evolution of Security 
Requirements at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants with Respect to 
Mitigation Measures for Large Fires and Explosions,'' dated February 4, 
2010.
    Plant-specific mitigation strategies are designated as security 
related information in accordance with the Commission's guidance in 
SECY-04-0191, ``Withholding Sensitive Unclassified Information 
Concerning Nuclear Power Reactors from Public Disclosure.'' However, 
there is publicly-available, industry-developed guidance on 
implementing these requirements. Specifically, the NRC endorsed NEI 06-
12, ``B.5.b Phase 2 & 3 Submittal Guideline,'' in a letter from the NRC 
to NEI dated December 22, 2006. The NRC found NEI-06-12 is a generally 
acceptable means for licensees to meet the NRC's requirements 
associated with mitigating potential loss of large areas due to fires 
or explosions, as explained in SECY-11-0125, ``Issuance of Bulletin 
2011-01, `Mitigating Strategies'.'' Therefore, the agency has made 
sufficient information available to the public regarding mitigation 
strategies. Moreover, petitioners have not alleged that the measures 
used to restore cooling to the SFPs during the Fukushima accident were 
developed under similar secret conditions or indicated how any such 
secrecy hindered the effectiveness of those measures.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ E.g., Thompson Report at 21-23.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because the petitioner has not provided new and significant 
information about the 9/11 mitigation measures with respect to the 
effectiveness of the measures to provide water to the SFPs, there is no 
need to supplement the GEIS.

[[Page 53271]]

Issue 3: The License Renewal GEIS Impact Analysis Must Address Spent 
Fuel Storage Impacts on a Site-Specific, Rather Than Generic Basis

    The petitioner asserted that the NRC's generic findings in table B-
1 in appendix B to subpart A of 10 CFR part 51 with respect to the 
Category 1 onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel issue would not be 
supportable where the Fukushima accident otherwise demonstrates that 
the environmental impacts could be significant and argued that these 
impacts must be evaluated on a plant-specific Category 2 basis. The 
petitioner specifically argued that the NRC has not considered the new 
information previously presented by the petitioner in PRM-51-10 that 
contradicts the NRC's conclusions regarding the environmental impacts 
of the onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel.
NRC Response to Issue 3
    Spent fuel storage impacts during the license renewal term were 
evaluated in the 1996 GEIS. The NRC staff concluded that the impacts 
would be small for all plants and, therefore, the onsite storage of 
spent fuel during the license renewal term was designated a Category 1 
issue. Specifically, the Commission concluded in the 1996 GEIS that 
continued storage of existing spent fuel and storage of spent fuel 
generated during the license renewal term can be accomplished safely 
and without significant environmental impacts, and that radiation doses 
will be well within regulatory limits. The 2013 update to the GEIS 
confirmed the 1996 evaluation.
    Further, the Commission affirmed the treatment of SFP storage 
impacts as Category 1 in 2008 upon denying the two petitions for 
rulemaking (PRM-51-10 and PRM-51-12). The two petitions requested that 
the NRC initiate a rulemaking concerning the environmental impacts of 
the high-density storage of spent nuclear fuel in SFPs. The two 
petitions asserted that ``new and significant information'' shows that 
the NRC incorrectly characterized the environmental impacts of high-
density spent fuel storage as ``insignificant'' in the 1996 GEIS for 
the renewal of nuclear power plant licenses. Specifically, the 
petitioner at that time asserted that spent fuel stored in high-density 
SFPs is more vulnerable to a zirconium fire than the NRC concluded in 
its analysis in the 1996 GEIS. On August 8, 2008, the Commission denied 
the petitions, stating:

    Based upon its review of the petitions, the NRC has determined 
that the studies upon which the Petitioners rely do not constitute 
new and significant information. The NRC has further determined that 
its findings related to the storage of spent nuclear fuel in pools, 
as set forth in NUREG-1437 and in Table B-1, of Appendix B to 
Subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, remain valid. Thus, the NRC has met and 
continues to meet its obligations under NEPA. For the reasons 
discussed previously, the Commission denies PRM-51-10 and PRM-51-12.

    Likewise here, because the impacts from SFP storage have been 
consistently demonstrated to be small and because the events in Japan 
do not challenge the NRC's assumptions or conclusions as to the 
applicability of its generic impact determination for spent fuel 
storage during license renewal, the NRC has determined that the 
petitioner's assertions do not present an adequate basis for the NRC to 
forego using a generic environmental analysis.

III. Conclusion

    For the reasons described in Section II of this document, the NRC 
is denying the petition under 10 CFR 2.803. The petitioner did not 
present any information that would contradict conclusions reached by 
the Commission when it established or updated the license renewal rule, 
nor did the petitioner provide new and significant information to 
demonstrate that sufficient reason exists to revise the current 
regulations. The NRC elected not to request public comments on PRM-51-
29 because it had sufficient information to make a determination.
    The events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have and 
will continue to inform improvements to the NRC's regulation of nuclear 
energy. Building upon the conclusions of the NTTF, the NRC is actively 
implementing significant enhancements through orders, rulemaking, and 
other regulatory initiatives. With regard to the petitioner's arguments 
that the events in Japan demonstrate that post-9/11 enhancements that 
enable the recovery of lost cooling water in SFPs will be ineffective, 
the petitioner did not provide sufficient information to support this 
claim, especially in light of the Commission's experiences and other 
studies noted previously.
    Therefore, the NRC denies the petitioner's request to revise 
regulations that make generic determinations about the environmental 
impacts of onsite spent fuel storage in license renewal environmental 
reviews.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons as indicated. For more information on accessing 
ADAMS, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               ADAMS Accession Number/
                  Document                    Federal Register Citation/
                                                         URL
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLI-11-05, Union Electric Company d/b/a      http://www.nrc.gov/reading-
 Ameren Missouri (Callaway Plant, Unit 2),    rm/doc-collections/
 September 9, 2011.                           commission/orders/2011/
                                              2011-05cli.pdf.
CLI-99-22, Hydro Resources, Inc., July 23,   http://www.nrc.gov/reading-
 1999.                                        rm/doc-collections/
                                              commission/orders/1999/
                                              1999-022cli.pdf.
COMSECY-13-0030, ``Staff Evaluation and      ML13329A918.
 Recommendation for Japan Lessons Learned
 Tier 3 Issue on Expedited Transfer of
 Spent Fuel,'' November 12, 2013.
Declaration of Dr. Gordon R. Thompson in     ML111530345.
 Support of Commonwealth of Massachusetts'
 Contention and Related Petitions and
 Motions, June 1, 2011.
Documentation of Evolution of Security       ML092990438.
 Requirements at Commercial Nuclear Power
 Plants with Respect to Mitigation Measures
 for Large Fires and Explosions, February
 4, 2010.
Federal Register notice--Continued Storage   79 FR 56238.
 of Spent Nuclear Fuel, September 19, 2014.
Federal Register notice--Environmental       61 FR 28467.
 Review for Renewal of Nuclear Power Plant
 Operating Licenses Final Rule, June 5,
 1996.
Federal Register notice--License Renewal of  78 FR 37325.
 Nuclear Power Plants; Generic
 Environmental Impact Statement and
 Standard Review Plans for Environmental
 Reviews, Issuance of NUREG-1437 and NUREG-
 1555, June 20, 2013.
Federal Register notice--PRM-51-10, NRC      73 FR 46204.
 denial of Petition for Rulemaking, August
 8, 2008.
Federal Register notice--PRM-51-29,          77 FR 75065.
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Notice of
 Receipt, December 19, 2012.

[[Page 53272]]

 
Federal Register notice--PRM-51-29,          77 FR 76952.
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
 Supplemental Information, December 31,
 2012.
Federal Register notice--Revisions to        78 FR 37282.
 Environmental Review of Renewal of Nuclear
 Power Plant Operating Licenses Final Rule,
 June 20, 2013.
Generic Environmental Impact Statement for   ML13107A023.
 License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, NUREG-
 1437, Revision 1 (Volumes 1-3), June 21,
 2013.
LBP-11-35, Memorandum and Order, denial of   ML11332A152.
 waiver in Pilgrim adjudicatory proceeding,
 December 13, 2011.
NEI 06-12, ``B.5.b Phases 2 & 3 Submittal    ML070090060.
 Guideline, Revision 2,'' Project 689,
 December 14, 2006.
NRC Overview of the Structural Integrity of  ML14111A099.
 the Spent Fuel Pool at Fukushima Dai-ichi,
 Unit 4, April 25, 2014.
NUREG-1353, ``Regulatory Analysis for the    ML082330232.
 Resolution of Generic Issue 82, `Beyond
 Design Basis Accidents in Spent Fuel
 Pools,' '' April 30, 1989.
NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact   ML13107A023.
 Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear
 Plants'' (2013 GEIS), June 20, 2013.
NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact   ML040690705, ML040690738.
 Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear
 Plants'' (1996 GEIS; Volumes 1 and 2), May
 31, 1996.
NUREG-1738, ``Technical Study of Spent Fuel  ML010430066.
 Pool Accident Risk at Decommissioning
 Nuclear Power Plants,'' S102686, February
 28, 2001.
NUREG-2157, ``Generic Environmental Impact   ML14196A105, ML14196A107.
 Statement for Continued Storage of Spent
 Nuclear Fuel''.
NUREG-2161, ``Consequence Study of a Beyond- ML14255A365.
 Design-Basis Earthquake Affecting the
 Spent Fuel Pool for a U.S. Mark I Boiling-
 Water Reactor'' (Spent Fuel Pool Study),
 October 9, 2013.
Order EA-12-049, NRC Order on Mitigating     ML12054A735.
 Strategies, March 12, 2012.
Order EA-12-051, NRC Order on Spent Fuel     ML12056A044.
 Pool Instrumentation, March 12, 2012.
Order EA-13-109, NRC Order on Severe         ML13143A321.
 Accident Capable Hardened Vents, June 6,
 2013.
PRM-51-10, Commonwealth of Massachusetts,    ML062640409.
 August 25, 2006.
PRM-51-29, from Mathew Brock, Commonwealth   ML12254A005.
 Of Mass. Petition for Waiver of C.F.R.
 Part 51 Subpart A, Appendix B or In
 Alternative Petition For Rulemaking to
 Rescind Regulations Excluding
 Consideration Of Spent Fuel Storage
 Impacts, June 2, 2011.
Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1,          ML13067A354.
 Revision 1, ``Preparation of Environmental
 Reports for Nuclear Power Plant License
 Renewal Applications,'' June 20, 2013.
Report of Japanese Government to the IAEA    http://www.kantei.go.jp/
 Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety--   foreign/kan/topics/201106/
 The Accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Nuclear    iaea_houkokusho_e.html.
 Power Stations, June 2011.
Sandia Letter Report, Revision 2,            ML120970086.
 Mitigation of Spent Fuel Pool Loss-of-
 Coolant Inventory Accidents And Extension
 of Reference Plant Analyses to Other Spent
 Fuel Pools, November 30, 2006.
Sandia Report: MELCOR 1.8.5 Separate Effect  ML062290362.
 Analysis of Spent Fuel Assembly Accident
 Response, June 30, 2003.
SECY-04-0191, ``Withholding Sensitive        ML042310663.
 Unclassified Information Concerning
 Nuclear Power Reactors From Public
 Disclosure,'' October 19, 2004.
SECY-11-0125, ``Issuance of Bulletin 2011-   ML111250360.
 01, ``Mitigating Strategies,'' September
 12, 2011.
SRM-COMSECY-13-0030, Staff Evaluation and    ML14143A360.
 Recommendation for Japan Lessons-Learned
 Tier 3 Issue on Expedited Transfer of
 Spent Fuel, May 23, 2014.
The Thompson Report, ``New And Significant   ML12094A183.
 Information From The Fukushima Daiichi
 Accident In The Context Of Future
 Operation Of The Pilgrim Nuclear Power
 Plant,'' June 1, 2011.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of August, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2015-21834 Filed 9-2-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P